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We expected to have a blast on this one, and it didn’t disappoint. Our great friends from 3E PR – Megan Redzia and Patrick Brightman – join us to dish on the public relations industry, what’s hot, and how it’s changing. Leon does this one solo – no guest host – which may or may not have been a good idea.
Who are these folks?
We have to start, of course, by comparing the relative youth of Megan and Leon to Patrick…because we love Patrick and love to bust his chops! He gives us a great story of an agency that started with 2 people that has grown to 13. We talk about the various industries and categories that they cater to and the wide range of businesses that they support. One of the biggest things to have changed the traditional PR landscape has been social media (digital media in general) so we discuss this impact and what it has meant for 3E.
The approach
The group discusses how PR should be a part of an overall marketing ecosystem, and we discuss the trends in the current marketplace. The inevitable discussion around social influencers begins, and Megan give us some great insight into how an influencer campaign can be dynamic and work across such a wide range of uses. Patrick doubles down – the original influencers were the reporters – the media. Everyone wants an influencer campaign, but no one really thinks about the right way to execute.
So what’s the game this week?!?!
Well…we introduce this week’s game, which involves guessing the brand responsible for a terrible PR disaster that Laura reads to each contestant. Megan gets our first penalty of the game which means she has to read aloud her last Google search!! Unfortunately, this penalty backfires and it turns out her last search was for a very valuable scheduling app called Doodle. Dammit Megan, it was supposed to be a penalty and you helped us all!!! Patrick and Leon turn out to be the winners of the first round with no penalties assessed for either player.
Back, to the future…
Megan kicks us off by talking about the continued proliferation of digital technology as the primary driver of change, that will ultimately present both challenges and opportunities for our respective industries. Leon once again gets “old school” (he does that a lot) and yet again advocates for direct mail…what is it with Leon and direct mail!!! Media consolidation comes up in discussion and the group pontificates about previous relationships and organizations that don’t exist anymore…despite our disbelief of that outcome. We talk about what pisses off about our game – and Patrick keeps things political by stating a fact that he recently heard. For every 1 editor, there are 6 PR people pitching them for stories which makes relationships that much more important for the strongest players in the PR industry, like 3E PR.
The Godfather
We take a few minutes to give some props to the SGW family of companies and the guy behind the curtain – Dave Scelba. Patrick has worked for him for 27 years and has some amazing things to say about the guy who Leon has coined, “The Godfather of NJ advertising”. Seriously, the dude is an incredible guy and it’s worth it to look him up.
Game Time, Game Time
Time for round two, and we hit some rather risque PR disasters in this round. Leon gives us a little jingle, and unfortunately Patrick gets back to back penalties in this round! The poor guy starts off with 20 pushups (which of course we record – check our social), followed closely by stuffing a handful of wasabi peas in his mouth at once!!! The crunch comes through on the mic…it’s hysterical. That’s about it, we wrap it up after that and another successful podcast in the books!
